Monthly recap & plans

Monthly Recap

This month I sewed 5 garments and used 10 yards of fabric.  Overall, I'm pleased since these are all things I'll wear and there were no wadders. 

Lace Jacket
Pattern: Butterick 3532
Fabric: Gray cotton broadcloth and cream colored lace (2-1/2 yds)



























Knit Tankattern: Simplicity 4192 Fabric: Yellow textured knit (1 yd) 

 






















Knit Top
Pattern: McCall's 7286
Fabric: Turquoise print, turquoise solid, tan solid (2 yds)

Black knit midi tee-shirt dress
Pattern: Butterick 6330
Fabric: Black knit (2 yds)

Kimono Jacket
Pattern: Simplicity 8172
Fabric: Rayon challis, 2 prints (2-1/2 yds)

August Plans
I'm finished with summer sewing, but not ready to sew for fall/winter, so I'm kind of in limbo.
I'll start on my skirt draft in preparation for making pants for cool weather.
And work on Riley's quilt and hopefully finish it this month.
Also, look though the UFO basket and see if there's anything I want to work on.
And maybe work on some quilts.

Back Yoke Knit Top

After recently making McCall's 7284  in a woven fabric,  I decided I'd like a knit top with a back yoke.    So for this top, I used the back of the McCall's pattern and the  front of Vogue 9057.

 

 
The fabrics I used:  The print is an ITY I bought on-line several years ago - I think from FabricMart; the black is a thin rayon blend from Joann Fabrics; and the purple lace came from Walmart.  I also used the black underneath the lace.

McCall's 7286 Polka Dot Top

I bought this pattern on Thursday and made it the next day.   I bought it because of the raglan sleeves and the 2 hemline options.   I made the first view - with short sleeves and rounded hem.   I plan to make the other view too.

I started with my usual size medium.  Since it's described as close-fitting and I like my tops loose through the middle, I started just below the bust and added a little to both the center and side seams.   I also made a swayback adjustment too.  The fit turned out perfect.  And the neckline fits so nice - just high enough and narrow enough. 

I love polka dots and love this fabric.  It's a very soft cotton knit that I got at Joann's a year ago and paid $2.50 yard.   I bought 4 yards and only used 1 yard for this top.  The white is a small piece I had left over from something else.

 

I wanted some basic summer tees that are pretty and fit better than RTW.   And I'm happy with how this first one turned out.  Now onto the next one.

Knit Top for my Sister - Simplicity 1199

I was making this top for myself,  so I made a size medium at the shoulders curving out to a large at hips. This is my usual size, but it turned out too big.  Which made my sister happy as it's perfect for her.

I used this pattern -  view C.

The only change I made was to add a band at the bottom of the front so that it's the same length as the back.  This was made from different cotton knit fabrics that were small pieces left over from other projects.  The gray prints are a reversible fabric - stripes on one side and dots on the other.  

I love the sleeve and neckbands made from the dot fabric.

For the back, I used the solid gray and white fabrics.

This is a great pattern that's really cute and went together quickly and easily.  I plan to make another one in a smaller sizer for myself.

Blue Velvet Top

The fabric is a crushed panne' velvet from Joann Fabrics. The color is called "princess blue" and is such a pretty color.  Even though it's 100% polyester, it looks nice and feels great to wear.  And it comes out of the washer and dryer looking great.  For the neckband, I used a black thin stretchy knit.

The pattern is McCalls 7247.  I lengthened the front by 3 inches

I'm not in love with this top.  The fit is not quite right, so I'm constantly rearranging the overlap.  I didn't feel like the overlap was secure and would stay in place, so I wore a black silkie camisole underneath.




Now some cute puppy pictures:

LITTLE MISS PAISLEY

Tee Shirts

For my first sewing project for 2016, I made four long sleeve tee shirts.

I used this out-of-print Kwik Sew pattern #3338 and made view A.  I used a size large, except medium for the shoulders.  What I like best about this pattern is the shape of the neckline and the fit of the shoulders.  This is one of the few patterns that I don't have to narrow the shoulders.

 

Top 1:
The only pattern alteration I made was to add a little width to the center front fold, to give more room over the tummy.  The main fit issue I have with this pattern is a fold I get in the armhole right at the bust.  If you look at the picture on the pattern cover above, you can see it on the blue top on the right.  Fabric is an olive green cotton without much stretch and was bought at Joann's in June, 2015 for $2.25 yard.

Top 2:

This fabric is a thin and very stretchy rayon.  I bought it at Joann Fabrics last year for $4.00 yard. This will be great for layering.

Alterations I made:
sway back adjustment
lengthened by 3 inches
lengthened the sleeves 1 inch
made a small dart in the front armhole
added to back fold line at hip area

Top 3:

This white fabric came from Walmart and I paid $3.50 a yard.  I made the same alterations as for the second top.  I also added 1" to the sleeve cap height and reshaped the sleeve a little trying to fix my usual sleeve twist problem.   These changes helped, but didn't completely take care of the issue. 

So after doing some research regarding the sleeve twist, I realize I have an inward elbow rotation like in this picture:  (Some call it forward rotating shoulder).

Good timing for me, Jennifer Stern recently posted an alteration for this issue

jsterndesigns.com "how-to-adjust-forward-rotated-shoulder"



Top 4:

I decided to make one last top and try the forward rotating shoulder adjustment.   I'm surprised how much this alteration helped my sleeve fit, and plan to make it a standard alteration for my future tops.  I made this top a little looser fit and longer length. 

The fabric for this is a men's xxl tee shirt that I bought at Kohl's on clearance for $2.50.  It's a nice weight cotton.  I didn't have enough fabric left to make the neckband, so I used a piece of black & white print from my scrap bag.

I have 4 new knit tops and learned a new fitting solution.  Now I'm ready to move on to something else.

Pattern of the Year - Vogue 9057

While looking over the list of items I made this year, I was surprised at how many times I've made this pattern.

Vogue 9057